Anchor – Ginger Root Beer

Sweetness
Me: Not outrageously sweet. Actually, has a bit of bitter to it.
Annie: Not as sweet as expected.

Flavour Profile
Me: Very mild root beer taste. Very mild ginger taste. Not like ginger ale to me… more like ginger beer.
Annie: I can taste the ginger in the drink. Kinda tastes like a root beer / ginger ale hybrid.

Aftertaste
Me: Refreshing fairly long lasting, spices in the root beer hang on the longest.
Annie: More in the back of the tongue, a creamy aftertaste.

Overall Score
Me: 2.5/5
Annie: 4/5

Americana – Honey Cream

Orca Beverage Soda Works
Mukilteo, WA

Aroma
Me: I know this smell… It is french vanilla ice cream with bananas and caramel sauce.
Annie: Cream soda and bubblegum.

Sweetness
Me: Sweet, but only average pop sweet… Not crazy sweet. Which surprised me based on how it smelled.
Annie: Not overpoweringly sweet.

Flavour Profile
Me: The initial flavour, until the carbonation dies down doesn’t taste good to me. I get a very strong soda water taste with a bit of sweetness and then I’m hit with a strong cream soda taste on the end.
Annie: It has got a tang to it, and then a hint of vanilla. There is also a tiny zing of banana.

Aftertaste
Me: Banana and vanilla stick around for a while, but there is some bitterness that lingers too… not sure where from.
Annie: Most of the taste is the aftertaste… After holding it in my mouth for a while, I realized that there isn’t much taste until after you swallow, and then there is a cacophony of taste.

Boylan – Birch Beer

Sweetness
Me: I feel like it isn’t very sweet. It actually has kind of a dryness to it.
Annie: It is slightly above average in sweetness.

Flavour Profile
Me: It tastes to me, exactly like taking a root beer bottle cap candy, and a cola bottle cap candy and a stick of gum and eating them all at once.
Annie: Mint… I taste MINT. It’s a mint pop. Winterfresh mint. It’s weird.

Aftertaste
Me: Weird tongue coating dryness. I don’t really like it at all. It is like the powder on cheap bubble gum. Like the gum that you get with playing cards back in the day. It had a powder coating on it… That’s what I get.
Annie: The aftertaste really lingers. Like after you brush your teeth, but without the fresh feeling.

Overall Score
Me: 1/5
Annie: 1/5

Boylan – Creamy Red Birch Beer

New York, NY

Aroma
Me: There is a hint of mint on the smell to me, but it is definitely different than the regular Birch Beer.
Annie: It is familiar. There is something in there that’s a little funky. At first, I was hit with a Twizzlers type smell… then it was like a Twizzlers/mint mix, and now I’m just smelling confusion.

Sweetness
Me: Not sweet enough for me. It needs more sugar to cover up the taste…
Annie: Not overly sweet. Less than I was expecting.

Flavour Profile
Me: It is okay…But doesn’t do much for me. On the first hit, I thought it was going to be better than the regular birch beer. There is almost a cherry vibe to the initial taste.
Annie: There are positive notes in the taste. Cherry coke flavor mid-way through and then ends on nasty.

Aftertaste
Me: Tastes like a bloody mouth filled with pennies. It is gross. It makes me not want to drink more.
Annie: Dark licorice a mint at first… with almost a grit to it.

Overall Score
Me: 0/5
Annie: 0/5 *wish I could go lower

We couldn’t finish it and had to pour it down the drain.

Olde Brooklyn – Williamsburg Root Beer

White Rock Products Corp
Whitestone, NY

Note: exploded a “bit” on opening…

Aroma
Me: Old fashioned sarsaparilla root beer.
Annie: It is sweet and wonderful smelling with some caramelness to it.

Sweetness
Me: Not that sweet. Actually a bitterness to it. But enjoyable balance.
Annie: Good amount… not overpoweringly sweet, nor under sweet.

Flavour Profile
Me: Molasses hint to the drink. I get caramel, molasses, and licorice. I like this one too. Lots of layers of flavor to enjoy.
Annie: Caramel, licorice (but not a disgusting amount). Really well balanced. Nice flavor. Not sure if I’m biased based on what we just drank, though…

Aftertaste
Me: Kind of a smokey aftertaste with some molasses and cane sugar.
Annie: There is something almost cinnamony and caramelly. Pleasant.

Flavour Profile
Me: Tastes kind of like the Cow Tale candy too… There is a darkness to the taste, with almost a roasted caramel type taste. It isn’t smoky, though.
Annie: Caramel, vanilla… A bit like a toasted marshmallow.

Aftertaste
Me: Most of it disappears very quickly, and then you are just left with a hint of caramel and cream…
Annie: Toasted marshmallow. Pleasant. I like it.

Overall Score
Me: 3/5
Annie: 4/5

Conclusion

There is no real conclusion that can be drawn from this, except that Annie and I enjoyed sampling a variety of beverages that we wouldn’t normally experience. We turned it into an experience that was fun and memorable. I really appreciated the gift and the time we took to make it special.